What rights does the merger directive provide besides board-level participation rights for employees?
There are some special information rights. The management or administrative organ of each of the merging companies must draw up a common draft plan on the cross-border merger. This draft must include information on the likely repercussions of the cross-border merger for employment (Art. 5 lit. d). Moreover, the management or administrative organ of each of the merging companies must draw up a report explaining and justifying the legal and economic aspects of the cross-border merger, including the implications of the cross-border merger for the employees (Art. 7 I). This report must be made available to the employees representatives or to the employees themselves not less than one month before the general meeting which approves the merger (Art. 7 II). These provisions force the management to take into account the employment consequences of the merger at an early stage. Furthermore, the employees representatives have the right to append an opinion to the merger report of the management o
